Page 20 of The Bodyguard's Vow

“Barely,” he admitted, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

I understood his awkwardness. We weren’t used to sharing shit like this with the girls. And nobody wanted to be the target of their tears. Even the boss, Nic, who was the meanest, most ruthless, cold-blooded son of a bitch I’d ever met, crumpled in the face of tears from the women in the family.

“They took her into surgery because they were afraid that she had internal bleeding. We haven’t heard anything yet.”

“Where the fuck was Aston?” I growled.

“He was in the vault. When he came out, he heard the commotion and ran up to the front. He saved Gia’s life. When the men knew she couldn’t tell them anything, they were about to kill her, but Aston took out three of them.”

“Three?” Alec asked.

Leo nodded. “Aston didn’t bother with the two who ran out because he wanted to get Gia to the hospital. But he gave us descriptions, and Marco is on it.”

Gabriella turned her tear-filled gaze on Rafa. “What now?”

“Now you run,” he stated, his hard voice every inch the boss who was not to be questioned.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Okay?” he echoed.

Like me, he’d been expecting a fight.

“I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me.”

“Bene,” Rafa said, gently taking hold of her face and wiped at the few tears on her cheeks with his thumbs. “You know that none of this is your fault, right?”

“Yes,” Gabriella replied softly. “But it doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty that Gia was almost killed by people looking for me.”

It was killing me to stand back and let Rafa comfort Gabriella, but giving anyone emotional support was difficult for someone who rarely let themselves experience it. And if I attempted it with Gabriella, it would be like holding up a blinking sign that announced how I felt about her.

“She doesn’t blame you,” Leo chimed in. “Aston mentioned that Gia told him that in the ambulance ride to the hospital.”

Rafa pulled her in for another hug. ”Domenico will keep you safe, but don’t forget everything I taught you,sorellina.”

“I won’t,” she promised, gaining her composure and giving him a firm nod. “I promise to keep Domenico safe, too.”

Rafa cracked a smile while the other guys coughed or pressed their lips together to hide their chuckles.

“I have no doubt.” Rafa’s eyes came to me, and he tossed over a set of keys. “The cabin is clean. Completely untraceable. Dante brought a car for you to take out of town. Ditch it no more than an hour from here and?—”

“I know what to do,” I grunted. “Go pack a bag, Gabriella.”

Rafa’s brow dipped when I used her full name.

Shit.

Thankfully, Gabriella stole his attention by throwing her arms around him. “Ti amo, fratello maggiore,” she told him, squeezing him tight.

Rafa kissed the top of her head, then urged her toward the bedroom. When she was out of sight, his dark eyes swung back to me. “If anything happens to her, you better be dead already.”

“You’re questioning me?” I asked, without inflection.

“I know you would die for her, Domenico,” he sighed. “I just…it needed to be said.”

“Understood.” I stalked to the guest room to throw together my own bag, then rejoined everyone in the front room.

“We’ll follow you to Atlanta to make sure you don’t have a tail,” Alec informed me. “After you ditch the first car, don’t make any stops. We don’t want you to end up on any security cameras.”

---